Windows XP to Die Off at 'Some Point'

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
From our front-page news:
Are you still in love with Windows XP? Many are, and probably for good reason. Despite its history of security flaws, XP has proven to be a rock-stable OS for those who know how to be careful and not download anything off of a P2P network and also update their PC anytime a new security fix is issued. But those who think love with XP will last forever, they are in for a hard reality.

Computerworld is taking a somewhat in-depth look at the Windows XP life-cycle and talks about how it will die off. Essentially, the recommendation I gather is that if you want XP in the future, you should purchase a few copies to store for when they cease to exist, although it still won't be too long after that point that support will end, so Vista might actually be an attractive option.

Whether or not that will actually be the case is yet to be seen, since Vista hasn't exactly been well received by many.

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Microsoft has already made changes in its timetables. Last year, the company extended the sales life cycle -- the time during which PC manufacturers and system builders could sell computers with XP installed -- to June 30, 2008. It will stop selling XP altogether on Jan. 31, 2009. And it extended the mainstream support period for XP to April 14, 2009, in an effort to reassure customers made nervous by the long delays in shipping Vista.

Source: Computerworld
 

Merlin

The Tech Wizard
My first system was Win 3.5 in 94
then:
Win 95 in 95
Win 98 in 98 and 98SE in 99
Win 2000 in 2000
Win XP Home in 2001
And finally Vista Ultimate in 2007

Win Xp ws the longest lasting OS that was virtually stable.

The biggest dud was Win ME
I don't kow what happened with that OS, but it is still being used by some of my customers and has a hard time loading drivers.

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:
 

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
Whenever it happens, I can't see myself not using the OS for many years to come in some capacity around home. Whenever it does die, it's sure as hell been a great run.

I can remember using it for the first time wondering how it could be so good when ME was so bad. It was refeshing not having to restart the computer before each use and networking under XP was/is a dream compared to older Microsoft OS.

I would love to see Microsoft drop the prices of Vista further once XP is laid to rest to further help the Vista gain more widespread adoption. Not that it will need any help once it's the only show in town but still, cheaper is always better.
 

sbrehm72255

Tech Monkey
It will die at some point, but at the rate that Vista problems are going, I'm willing to bet that MS is going to extend XP's life cycle again, at least till the release of their next OS release.

OH, and my first PC OS was good ole plain DOS 3.1 (I think that was the version), Windows was a few years later.
 

Merlin

The Tech Wizard
It will die at some point, but at the rate that Vista problems are going, I'm willing to bet that MS is going to extend XP's life cycle again, at least till the release of their next OS release.

OH, and my first PC OS was good ole plain DOS 3.1 (I think that was the version), Windows was a few years later.
Oh Yeah,
What operating system was on the Commodor64?
I wrote some basic program in simple Basic.

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:
 

sbrehm72255

Tech Monkey
On with XP support......;)

Seems that SP3 will finally ship........:)

RECALCITRANT users refusing to get with the programme and move to the brave new world of Vista will be heartened to learn that Service Pack Three for the wizened and wrinkly Windows XP hits the newsstands in April.

TechARP reports that SP3 will appear in two waves, with the Simplified Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish versions appearing in the last two weeks of April and all other variants following three weeks later.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/25/xp-sp3-due
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Whenever it happens, I can't see myself not using the OS for many years to come in some capacity around home. Whenever it does die, it's sure as hell been a great run.

You said it. This OS has been around since 2001 and hasn't changed much at ALL. It's had a few updates here and there, but it was always essentially the same OS. In computer years... that kind of longevity is amazing, and it's not even close to completely dying off. As it stands, there is not much you can't do in XP that you can do in Vista, and that's saying something.

I can remember using it for the first time wondering how it could be so good when ME was so bad. It was refeshing not having to restart the computer before each use and networking under XP was/is a dream compared to older Microsoft OS.

Haha, I remember the exact same thing. One time, I installed a fresh copy of XP, installed the drivers and then surfed the net for a bit. It wasn't until two hours later that I realized I didn't reboot the computer, haha. For SOME reason, I didn't need to reboot the computer back then... after I installed the drivers, they worked. I was impressed.

On with XP support......;)

Seems that SP3 will finally ship........:)

An Inquirer link that links to TechARP. That's like a double negative. SP3 has been rumored to be coming out real soon as is, so that's not new news.
 

Merlin

The Tech Wizard
WinXp was a large step for many.....it opened gates for software more than any other OS to date.
And now we have DX 10 and vista.....
Some are trying to simulate appearance and icons of Vista with XP.....maybe they like the appearance but are not quite sure to step into the water.
There are even some mods for Crysis in XP to make it LOOK like Vista DX10.

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:
 

sbrehm72255

Tech Monkey
Here's a little blog on "Windows XP may get another reprieve" that I found interesting.

Although Microsoft is pushing hard to move everyone to the latest version of Windows, there are some market realities that are going to keep Windows XP around for some time--likely well beyond the current June deadline for large computer makers to stop selling the older operating system.

Microsoft has already extended the deadline once (XP was originally supposed to stop showing up on big-name PCs in January) and I would expect another extension to be announced soon.

The biggest area where XP is likely to stick around is in the nascent but growing market of low-cost, flash memory-based notebook computers, such as the Asus Eee PC. These devices are fertile ground for Linux, benefiting from its low cost and low memory requirements. Microsoft had to do some work just to get Windows XP onto the Eee PC and Vista would seem to be a non-starter.

And the rest of the story......................;)

http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9902747-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
 
Kinda off topic but theres supposed to be a new OS in 2009 thats going to replace vista, I don't know if this is true or not but I wouldn't find it hard to accept if it is.
 

b1lk1

Tech Monkey
I no longer run XP on any of my PC's. Vista for the win. As for the next Windows, 2011 is the last speculated release date I saw. Besides that, add in all the usual Microsoft delays and 2011 sounds like an early release.
 

sbrehm72255

Tech Monkey
With your system specs you'd have to have superhuman vision to ever notice any difference in FPS. Most of what you hear is not true and the rest is overblown.

There might be a few FPS at the most between XP and Vista with the high-end video he's pushing.
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Here was another article, came out a bit before that one that I thought was a really good read: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9070119 The second half of the third page gives a believable reason as to why MS may still extend XP support for another year.

With your system specs you'd have to have superhuman vision to ever notice any difference in FPS. Most of what you hear is not true and the rest is overblown.

Whatever you may think, I've used Vista for over six months and that is true...

Team Fortress 2
Vista 1920x1200 2xAA+8xAF and the game still lags out during firefights
XP 1920x1200 4xAA+16xAF and completely lag free.

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is even worse, the game isn't playable at native resolution on Vista without turning most of the settings to medium and turning off all but the minimal DX10 extras. On XP I can still keep the detail settings on high. I know the DX10 extras like the weather engine weren't helping, but even having the game run in DX9 mode under Vista gave worse numbers.
 
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b1lk1

Tech Monkey
If MS just plain killed off XP and forced the game devs to make things work properly on Vista there would be far fewer issues as of today. I understand Microsoft pimping XP to major business/companies for another year or so since they require a few years to get their IT staff ready for the nightmare of switching over to a new OS. For the regular home user, there is no reason to not get ready for the change other than the fact tht Vista is not friendly to hardware that is more than a few years old while XP will run a P2 computer just fine.

I am not saying you that you may not be having issues, but I am saying that in my personal experience I am not having issues. I still find that ALOT of what I read online about Vista does not apply to everyone and most of the problems are very over-hyped.
 

sbrehm72255

Tech Monkey
The fact of the matter is that you can have issues with any OS, XP or Vista, the big issue is that there are many many more systems out in the real world (even many new systems) that just plain can't run Vista, plain and simple and MS knows this, that's why they extended the life of XP last time around and more than likely will again.

I can't count the number of new OEM systems that I've had come through my house with that pretty little Vista sticker on it that didn't have enough power left over to get out of their own way. That's where the XP upgrade (or free Ubuntu) comes into play.............;)
 
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